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A Touch of Spring Knocks the Chill Off New York

To Yolande George, winter means staying toasty warm indoors. Though she has lived in New York for 13 years, she explained, she just can not get used to the biting winds and frigid temperatures, the layers of clothing and the pain in her joints. ''Every time it's wintertime,'' said Ms. George, who left Trinidad for Harlem, ''I get angry.''

But yesterday, Ms. George did exactly what she avoids on most January days - she went outside to enjoy the weather.

''I usually try to avoid outdoors. January, February are cold and kind of rough,'' Ms. George, 47, a house cleaner, said yesterday as she relaxed with dozens of other people in Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. ''But today is beautiful. I'm not angry today.''

With the temperature rising to 59 degrees yesterday in Central Park, not a record but still 20 degrees above normal, few others were complaining as springlike weather prompted people to do decidedly un-winterlike activities.

On Long Island, Patricia Middleton and Juan Stevens packed a basket with boiled eggs, chicken and sharp cheese and had a picnic at Morgan Park in Glen Cove. In Jersey City, Hui Lee and her husband, Ben, played tennis in Hamilton Park, despite the missing net. And in Brooklyn Heights, Lee Chan dropped a line into the East River, fully prepared to spend hours fishing.

''This is the nicest day all winter, and it's a lot more fun,'' said Mr. Chan, 40. ''Usually, I'm wearing a hat and gloves. Now it's so warm that I can stand outside for hours at a time.''

Meteorologists attributed yesterday's unseasonable weather to a stationary front -- extending from the Midwest to Maine -- blocking cold air from the north while a high pressure system off the East Coast brought warm air from the south. Across the Northeast, that meant rising temperatures. In Washington, the temperature reached 68, 25 degrees above normal. In normally chilly Boston, the temperature was 54, far above the average, 36.

But the high temperatures set no records, nor did they raise eyebrows among meteorologists.

In New York, the record high for Jan. 2 is 68 degrees, set in 1876. While yesterday was warm, 7 of the last 10 Januarys have seen at least one day when the mercury hit 60 or above, said Drew Jackson, a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pa.

''It's certainly nowhere near normal, but not so far out of left field that we're shattering records,'' said Kipp Hogan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service on eastern Long Island. ''If we had a high of 80, that would be unusual. But hitting 60, well, that's been done before.''

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It will probably be done again today and tomorrow, with highs of about 60 expected before temperatures dip into the 20's.

Organizers and participants in the annual Three Kings Parade in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, could not have asked for a better day, as evidenced by the large and eager crowd lining Debevoise Street while participants dressed as kings and wise men, beggars and angels, camels and donkeys marched by.

''The weather helps a lot,'' said Hector Quinones, 47, of Williamsburg, who was dressed as one of the kings. ''It's more enjoyable. I think it's been a blessing from God.''

It got so warm, in fact, that Lyle Babb, who supplied three camels, one donkey, two sheep and two goats for the parade, expressed a note of concern for some of the animals. ''The sheep are too hot,'' said Mr. Babb, who runs the Sanctuary for Animals in Westtown, N.Y., in Orange County. ''Normally, it's much colder than this, and this is honestly quite a shock.''

In Morgan Park, Ms. Middletown said she and Mr. Stevens took advantage of the day to have a picnic and ''get in touch with nature.''

Mr. Stevens said that after ''the mall madness of December, coming out here is such a pleasure.''

In Manhattan, Michael Hanley, 38, a saxophonist from Hoboken, N.J., said he took advantage of the warm day to do something he never does on a winter day -- play the sax on Fifth Avenue. ''I've been doing this 10 years, and this is the first time I've been out here on Jan. 2,'' said Mr. Hanley.

Warm weather also brought Payer Bhuiyan and his hot dog cart to Seventh Avenue, which he usually avoids on a weekend winter day. ''Today is a special day. Today it's the weather. Sometimes, when the weather is good, I work,'' explained Mr. Bhuiyan, a recent immigrant from Bangladesh. ''Cold is not good, my friend. Summer is good.''

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A version of this article appears in print on January 3, 2000, on Page B00005 of the National edition with the headline: A Touch of Spring Knocks the Chill Off New York. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe